BRUSSELS
The European Union is extending its sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for another year as the Syrian civil war rages on.
One more person has been added to the sanctions list on which "over 200 persons and 70 entities are targeted by EU sanctions over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria," the Council of the European Union said in a statement on Thursday.
"This person is a high-ranking military official deemed responsible for repression and violence against the civilian population in Damascus and Damascus countryside," the council said, adding that information about this person would be available in the EU Official Journal on Friday.
More than 200,000 people have been killed in Syria as the war enters its fifth year.
The council said in December 2014 that the EU would continue imposing and enforcing sanctions against the Syrian regime and its closest partners as long as repression in the war-torn country would continue.
"For the EU, a lasting solution to the conflict can only come through a Syrian-led political process that leads to a transition," the council also said in the statement.
